John Ogrodnick was born June 20, 1959 in Ottawa, Ontario. The 4th choice, 66th overall selection of the Detroit Red Wings in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft, Ogrodnick is a graduate of the British Columbia Junior Hockey League and the of the Western Canadian Junior Hockey League.

The Ottawa, Ontario native spent two and half seasons with the WCJHL's New Westminster Bruins and is a two time Memorial Cup champion (1977, 1978) while sharing WCJHL Rookie of the Year honors in 1978 and was a member of Canada's 1979 World Junior Championship team.

An offensively gifted player, Ogrodnick made his NHL debut with Detroit during the 1979-80 season. After beginning the season with the team's American Hockey League affiliate in Adirondack, Ogrodnick joined the Wings in January and went to score eight goals while adding 24 assists for 32 points.

Ogrodnick played seven and a half seasons with Detroit, where he was an NHL First Team All-Star in 1985, after he finished fourth in league goal scoring with 55 behind only future Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri and Mike Bossy and went on to represent the Red Wings at the NHL All-Star Game on five separate occasions (1981, 1982, 1984, 1985 and 1986).

Midway through the 1986-87 season, Detroit traded Ogrodnick to the Quebec Nordiques, a team with whom he played only 45 games for before being dealt to the New York Rangers just prior to the 1987-88 season.

Ogrodnick went on to play five seasons with the Rangers, while playing a handful of games with the International Hockey League's Denver Rangers during the 1988-89 season.

Following a five-year stay in New York with the Rangers, Ogrodnick was released by the team upon the conclusion of the 1991-92 season only to sign as a free agent with Detroit during the off-season. Ogrodnick played only 20 regular season and playoff games with Detroit while playing a handful of games with the Adirondack Red Wings before calling it a career following the season.

REGULAR SEASON

PLAYOFFS

Season

Club

League

GP

G

A

TP

PIM

+/-

GP

G

A

TP

PIM

1976-77

Maple Ridge Bruins

BCJHL

67

54

56

110

63

1976-77

New Westminster Bruins

WCJHL

14

2

4

6

0

14

3

3

6

2

1976-77

New Westminster Bruins

M-Cup

5

2

0

2

0

1977-78

New Westminster Bruins

WCJHL

72

59

29

88

47

21

14

7

21

14

1977-78

New Westminster Bruins

M-Cup

5

3

1

4

2

1978-79

New Westminster Bruins

WHL

72

48

36

84

38

6

2

0

2

4

1978-79

Canada

WJC-A

5

3

0

3

4

1979-80

Detroit Red Wings

NHL

41

8

24

32

8

-4

1979-80

Adirondack Red Wings

AHL

39

13

20

33

21

1980-81

Detroit Red Wings

NHL

80

35

35

70

14

-17

1980-81

Canada

WEC-A

8

3

2

5

0

1981-82

Detroit Red Wings

NHL

80

28

26

54

28

-15

1982-83

Detroit Red Wings

NHL

80

41

44

85

30

+11

1983-84

Detroit Red Wings

NHL

64

42

36

78

14

-16

4

0

0

0

0

1984-85

Detroit Red Wings

NHL

79

55

50

105

30

+1

3

1

1

2

0

1985-86

Detroit Red Wings

NHL

76

38

32

70

18

-30

1986-87

Detroit Red Wings

NHL

39

12

28

40

6

-2

1986-87

Quebec Nordiques

NHL

32

11

16

27

4

-6

13

9

4

13

6

1987-88

New York Rangers

NHL

64

22

32

54

16

-3

1988-89

New York Rangers

NHL

60

13

29

42

14

0

3

2

0

2

0

1988-89

Denver Rangers

IHL

3

2

0

2

0

1989-90

New York Rangers

NHL

80

43

31

74

44

+11

10

6

3

9

0

1990-91

New York Rangers

NHL

79

31

23

54

10

+15

4

0

0

0

0

1991-92

New York Rangers

NHL

55

17

13

30

22

+6

3

0

0

0

0

1992-93

Detroit Red Wings

NHL

19

6

6

12

2

-2

1

0

0

0

0

1992-93

Adirondack Red Wings

AHL

4

2

2

4

0

NHL Totals

928

402

425

827

260

41

18

8

26

6

WCJHL Rookie of the Year (co-winner - Keith Brown) (1978) NHL First All-Star Team (1985)
Played in NHL All-Star Game (1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986)

Traded to Quebec by Detroit with Basil McRae and Doug Shedden for Brent Ashton, Gilbert Delorme and Mark Kumpel, January 17, 1987. Traded to NY Rangers by Quebec with David Shaw for Jeff Jackson and Terry Carkner, September 30, 1987. Signed as a free agent by Detroit, September 29, 1992.